Shadow
by samimagines
Summary: Ninety seven years after a nuclear war that destroyed the world, one hundred delinquents under the age of eighteen are sent to the earth to test the planet's livability. Isabelle Anderson, one of these juvenile offenders, finds that the ground presents more problems than she anticipated, including long withheld secrets, other life on earth, and just plain old drama.
1. Earthbound

Staring at the same four bland gray walls all day wasn't exactly Isabelle's idea of fun, but being imprisoned wasn't supposed to be fun. It was supposed to leave her alone with her thoughts, which it definitely had. She was sitting in the center of the small room, her back to the cot that had served as her bed for the past few months, curled up so that her thin fingers could idly fiddle with the small, sloppily crafted flower charm attached to the black hemp tied around her ankle. Her chin was tilted upward so that she could look through the window in her ceiling, to stare at nothing but stars. At least her prison cell came with a good view, though it was the same view that could be seen through every window in the Ark.

Being locked up wasn't as bad for Isabelle as it was for the others. She was stuck in solitary, but she didn't have a family to miss, not anymore anyway. Isabelle had never met her father, or at least she wasn't aware if she had. Her mother said he left before she was born, which had always bothered the seventeen year old. Living in space meant that there weren't many places he could go, he had to be on the Ark somewhere. Unless he had been floated. Isabelle had lost her mother much more recently, just a week before she was locked up here on the prison station. The only people she had left were her best friends, Monty Green and Jasper Jordan. She had grown up on Agro station with them, and spent most of her childhood rolling her eyes at their antics. Even Monty and Jasper were locked up, however. So even if she wasn't, they'd still be apart.

"Prisoner 443." Isabelle head turned quickly at the sound of her door clicking open and a guard addressing her by her identification number. "Please stand."

The small brunette's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, but the emotion was immediately replaced by fear, and nervousness. Had she miscalculated the date? She knew her eighteenth birthday was drawing closer every day, but she thought she still had a few days at least. Despite her alarm, Isabelle stood up, following every order the guard barked at her. She turned to face the wall, staring at the solid gray color. "Is it my birthday? Are you taking me to my trial?" she asked the second guard who took a metal wristband from a small black box. There were a few of the bracelets within it, each identical with numerous small, needle-like silver spikes on the inside.

"Hold out your right wrist." the guard responded, ignoring her question entirely. Isabelle hung her head, and lifted her arm. Tears pricked her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. The chances of her getting floated were high. Today was the last day she would be alive. If this were the case, she was going to go out strong. She wasn't going to cry. From what she'd heard, even people with minor offenses were getting the sentence these days. But, apparently, someone else wasn't as accepting of their fate. She could hear the protests of another girl nearby. Isabelle assumed they shared a birthday. Isabelle's attention was returned to the guards when they pulled her sleeve up, and put the band on. Isabelle winced in discomfort as the needles pierced her arm.

"What is this?" she asked, referring the the wristband. She was expecting handcuffs, but not this. Maybe this is would inject her with some sort of chemical to kill her. But why would they waste that resource if they could just float her instead? The guards ignored her question, and pulled her arms behind her back. Cold metal cuffs were then put on her wrists, and finally she was led out of the small cell she'd been living in for so long. As soon as she was outside, her eyes scanned the area. It'd been weeks since she'd seen another person. Had it been weeks? Isabelle wasn't even sure, it was easy to lose track of time in the Skybox. Seeing the other prisoners taken from their cells, Isabelle's mind tried to sort out what was going on. There was no way it was this many people's birthday. There were dozens of prisoners being pulled from their cells with wristbands and handcuffs on their arms. Isabelle didn't say anything more, until her eyes landed on a familiar face that made her heart skip a beat.

"Monty? Mont-" She was interrupted by one of the guards, who roughly pulled her backwards and demanded she quiet down. Despite being interrupted, the shaggy haired boy's eyes moved to her face. He looked just as fearful as she felt. Monty's birthday was nowhere near her own, so what was going on here? Was Jasper being put to the same fate as they were? Her question was answered by a woman hugging the blonde causing a commotion just moments earlier. The words "you're being sent to the ground" were uttered, just before Isabelle was shoved forward, toward the door that led out of lockup.

A few minutes later, Isabelle's handcuffs were gone, but the bracelet was still attached to her wrist with all its needles still embedded in her skin. She was sitting in the middle section of a dropship, a bright red seatbelt buckled around her. She looked at the girl beside her, a beautiful brunette with bright blue eyes. "Is this seriously happening?" the girl asked, and Isabelle nodded.

"It makes sense. If you're going to test if the ground is inhabitable, you might as well send prisoners. Why waste the star citizens, right?" Isabelle spoke, ignoring the butterflies in her stomach as the countdown neared 00:00.

The brunette smiled, then extended her hand. "I'm Octavia Blake." The girl introduced herself just as the dropship disconnected from the Ark and started its journey to the ground. The name sounded vaguely familiar, but Isabelle didn't dwell on it for too long.

"Isabelle Anderson." Isabelle responded, taking the girl's hand and giving it a quick shake before grabbing onto the edges of her seat.

The trip went smoothly, until the dropship hit the atmosphere. The entire ship started to shudder, just in time for the chancellor's message to appear on every monitor on the ship. "Iz?" Two voices called at once, and Isabelle overlooked the few boys taking their belts off, ignoring the way one of them stared at her, to see Monty and Jasper. A warm smile grew on her face. She wasn't alone anymore. But deep down, her heart ached. Regret. Regret for being the reason they were here, the reason they'd probably die as soon as the doors to the dropship reopened. Before she got to respond, the parachutes deployed, slowing the ship down drastically. Someone screamed, and Isabelle's eyes squeezed shut. The last thing Isabelle felt was Octavia's hand squeezing her own, obviously searching for some sort of solace even if it was coming from a complete stranger. Then, one of the unbelted boys was thrown into where Isabelle sat, and everything went black.


	2. Fire

Isabelle stood in the middle of a dense forest, water rushing around her. She was thankful that the river was only waist deep, living on a space station meant that she didn't know how to swim. The sensation of water flowing around her was entirely new, the trickling of the water and tweeting of the birds relaxed her, these were things she'd only ever heard about in old books kept in the library on the Ark. But this depiction of the world may not have been accurate, it was just a dream after all.

"Iz!" Jasper shouted, watching Finn crash into her, and as he fell to the ground her head fell to the side and leaned against her seat. He could tell, even from where he stood, that she was out cold. "No, no. Iz! No!" Jasper and Monty simultaneously moved to undo their seatbelts, meanwhile some of the others kneeled down beside the boys who had been out of their seatbelts in the crash. Finn was fine, his impact was presumably lessened by his collision with Isabelle, while the other were pronounced dead. Monty felt his heart race in his chest, worried that Isabelle may have taken the fall for Finn. Jasper glared at him, his body radiating anger and fear. They'd confirmed their first two casualties, and he hoped Isabelle wouldn't be the third. "Will she be okay?" Octavia asked, looking to Clarke. Jasper took Isabelle's seatbelt off, Octavia let go of her hand, and Wells and one of the others carried her to the bottom level of the dropship. Getting down the ladder proved difficult, but Clarke had determined that she was still breathing, she would be okay. They'd just have to wait for her to come to. They set her down, and kept the others from stepping on her, while Clarke argued against the door of the dropship being opened and the others talked about Octavia. "No one has a brother." Someone had said after Octavia said she hadn't seen her brother in a year. Second children were illegal on the Ark, but that was why Octavia was here. Eventually, the door was opened, and almost all one hundred delinquents plus Bellamy, poured out. Jasper and Monty, however, stayed behind.

Within her dream, Isabelle's legs grew weak. She walked through the water, headed for the bank to pull herself out. But, her bare foot slipped on moss covered stone, and she fell backward in the cold river. The current dragged down stream, mimicking a book she read to her mother once. Her dream turned into a nightmare as water flooded her lungs, burning her nose and throat as she struggled for air.

Slowly, Isabelle started to fade back into consciousness. Her dream, which was primarily about what the ground would be like, was replaced with a hazy reality, where her eyes were still closed but she could feel's someone beside her, holding her hand and rubbing circles into the back of it. This wasn't Octavia, who she remembered had been holding her hand prior to the crash landing, their hand was bigger. It was Jasper who was leaning over Iz, his hand gripping hers. When she opened her eyes, he breathed a sigh of relief. "You're awake. Thank god." All the others had left the ship, and Isabelle's eyes focused on something just past Jasper's head. It was bright, and beautiful. Isabelle's eyes struggled to adjust. But the sight of it took her breath away. "Iz!" Jasper tried to recatch her attention."Don't ever scare us like that again."

"I swear, if anything happened to you, I would've killed that guy." Monty mumbled as he leaned down beside Jasper.

"I didn't exactly plan for that to happen, Jasp. And we all know you couldn't hurt a fly, Monty." She responded, smiling at her best friends. Each of them grabbed one of her arms, and hoisted her onto her feet.

"We know. Are you feeling okay? I could look for some plants once we get out, maybe find something that-" Monty was interrupted by the others cheering outside. Isabelle silently wondered if his brain ever slowed down, between herbs and engineering, his head had to be packed full of knowledge.

"Monty, how could you be thinking about that when there's an entire world for us to explore right outside? What are you two even doing in here? This is the first time humans have stepped foot on the ground in a century, and you're just standing around? I'm fine." Isabelle replied, before he got to continue from where he left off. "I just want to see what the ground looks like." Isabelle admitted, pulling free of them and heading straight for the ramp.

Isabelle stopped beside Clarke, just as awe struck as she was. It was so much better than it'd been in her dreams. "Are you feeling okay? That was a pretty hard hit." Clarke asked, without taking her eyes off the landscape. Isabelle just smiled, and nodded. With that, Clarke jumped off the ramp. It was odd how much different Clarke's demeanor was now. From a fighter, to a concerned nurse in just a few hours. Isabelle followed her with Jasper and Monty close behind. She took a deep breath, the air felt so pure as it travelled through her body. Isabelle smirked at Jasper and Monty, who high fived. Isabelle threw her arms around them both, thankful for the fact that they were all on the ground, and still alive. Memories of the three of them back on Agro station flooded back. As she hugged them, her eyes darted around to take in their surroundings. It was all so colorful. The ark had been blanketed in shades of gray, which made the greens and blues of the earth seem so much more vibrant. Her heart thumped hard in her chest. Adrenaline filled her veins. The bracelets were picking up the change in their heartbeats, Isabelle hoped that wouldn't prove to be worrisome for those back on the ark. They weren't in danger, not yet anyway.

A few minutes later, Iz was standing with Monty, rolling her eyes at Jasper's pitiful attempt at flirting with Clarke. While the others argued, she stood by and bit her lip. All the information she cared about from the confrontation was the fact that the ship had landed far off course, and Mount Weather, where they'd find survival supplies, was twenty miles from where they were now. Her stomach grumbled at the thought alone. Watching the others gang up on Wells bothered Isabelle, it was clear in the way her lips moved to form a small frown and her eyes filled with pity. Isabelle knew he was the chancellor's son, she knew most of the people here had their own vendetta against him. Some of their parents had been floated, some of them would've been floated too as soon as their birthday rolled around. Isabelle was one of them. But Isabelle knew that you couldn't choose your parents. If you could, she would've chose a father that stuck around. When Murphy started in on him, Isabelle's muscles tensed, she felt Monty's hand on her arm. He could tell she was tempted to jump in, but her head still ached from the run in during their landing. Mbege held Clarke back for the same reason. Wells didn't deserve to have his leg hurt, which is exactly what Murphy had done.

Thankfully, Finn interjected before anything else happened. When the situation cleared, Isabelle kept her eyes on Finn. He was the one that had been staring at her in the dropship, when she was looking at Jasper and Monty and the one that caused her black out. Finn looked back at her, his face covered in guilt, before immediately looking away. Apparently he did feel bad for causing the death of two people, and injuring another. Or maybe there was something else on his mind. Isabelle was curious. That was part of the reason she volunteered to join when Monty and Jasper were dragged into going to Mount Weather with Clarke and Finn. Of course, she also wanted to be there if anything bad happened.

"Iz. You shouldn't come. You need to rest. You might have a concussion and-" Monty argued, and Clarke quickly cut him off.

"He's right. You should rest." Clarke's voice was firm, she told one of the others to check for symptoms, and mentioned something about waking her up every few hours to check for changes. Isabelle sighed, told Monty and Jasper to be careful, and sat down outside of the dropship beside Wells who Clarke had paused to talk to for just a moment.

"Hey. Iz right?" Wells spoke, and she nodded. He must've heard Jasper or Monty say it. Iz was Isabelle's preferred name, and the two of them had always known her as that. Isabelle's mom, however, stuck with her full name. "I'm Wells."

Wells extended a hand, and Isabelle shook it. "Nice to meet you." she spoke finally.

"You too. I'm curious, how'd you end up in the Skybox?" Isabelle shifted, her arms crossing over her chest. Wells frowned at the shift in her body language. "I'm sorry. You don't- look… you don't have to tell me."

Isabelle stayed silent, her mind flooded with memories. Isabelle's mother got sick when she was fourteen. She got medicine, but the ark had strict policies on how much one person was allowed, and she wasn't getting enough to improve her condition. Just enough to keep her alive, albeit painfully. For a while, Monty and Jasper had stolen from the fields, both for Isabelle's mother and some for themselves. But once they were caught, Isabelle was under closer watch and eventually she snapped and assaulted a guard, seriously injuring him before getting dragged away and locked in the prison station. "I attacked a guard." Was all Iz said, enough to satisfy his question, but not enough to reveal what had happened. "What about you? Hard to believe the Chancellor's kid could do wrong." she admitted.

"I got myself arrested on purpose, I heard about the prisoners being sent down here-"

"You did it for Clarke." Isabelle concluded. "She's lucky to have a friend like you. I can't say Jasper and Monty haven't done the same for me though."

Wells smiled, and Isabelle could tell there was more to it. But he didn't seem to want to go on, so the topic went stale. "I know you need to rest but… we need some fire wood. Are you feeling up to helping?" Wells needed to rest to, now that his leg was injured. But he didn't seem willing to let it slow him down, and Iz wasn't going to let a headache stop her either.

Soon, Isabelle and Wells were piling up wood, and she stood beside him when Murphy attempted to start a fight with him again. The two of them walked off together, past Murphy and John. When they walked back into the forest, she looked over at him. "I know it isn't your fault, you know. You can't control the laws, and your father can't either."

Wells didn't say much, just nodded. But Wells was appreciative of the statement. He seemed to walk just a little bit taller. It was a small statement but knowing that there was at least one person that had his back meant something. After all, not even Clarke was there for him now. Not after her father was floated, and she assumed Wells to be the reason for it. "While we wait for the others, we can look for some plants to eat around here as well as some water. Want to help?" Isabelle asked him, stopping to look at some leaves. She took one in her hand, studying it while she waited for his reply. It was getting dark, but the others would be gone for a while. Tensions were already running high amid the camp, they didn't need deprivation to make it worse. That was why Wells agreed, even though he wasn't nearly as experienced with herbology as Isabelle was. As they worked, Wells stole glances at the other delinquent, her long brown hair was braided, and rested on her left shoulder. Her deep brown eyes were entirely focused on the job. Even in the dying light she was beautiful. She got her looks from her mother, but Wells didn't know that. The only ones that had ever met her were Monty and Jasper.

In the end, they only found a few things. They split it amongst themselves, after deciding to call it a night. It was too dark to keep searching, now that the moon was rising. They could've continued to look in the light of the moon, but the canopy of leaves above them casted too much shade. The two of them snacked on what they had, then treked back to the dropship where they found the others gathered around the fire they had built and started, cheering. Mbege and Murphy were removing everyone's bracelets one by one. Isabelle would be lying if she said she wasn't itching to take hers off. She still wasn't accustomed to having the tiny needles implanted in her wrist. But, when she looked at Wells, she could see the disapproval in his expression. Isabelle watched Wells limp toward the crowd, she had forgotten about his injury. She was so distracted by getting things done. She jogged to catch up, then grabbed his arm and put it around her shoulder to give him someone to lean on. "What the hell are you doing?" Wells asked. Mbege stepped forward, only to be stopped by Bellamy.

"We're liberating ourselves, what does it look like?" Bellamy countered. The cheers of the others still lingered around them all, and now that they were standing still Isabelle stepped away from Wells, letting him stand with most of his weight on his good leg. It was a shame he hadn't had time to rest, he clearly needed it. But no one else seemed keen on helping with food or water, so he didn't have much of a choice. Neither of them did.

"It looks like you're trying to get us all killed." Wells started continuing by explaining that communication with the Ark was dead, and the bracelets were the only link they had left. If they wanted the rest of their people to come down, the doctors, farmers, engineers, and everyone else, the bracelets were everyone's last hope. Too bad a bunch of the metal bands already laid in the fire, slowly melting in it's flames, and Bellamy and the others didn't seem to care.

"Look, I don't have family up there either, and I was locked up just like the rest of you. But i know just as much as Wells that we can't survive here on our own. Aren't you all hungry?" Isabelle asked, baffled by their incompetence. Maybe it was their adrenaline that prevented them from thinking clearly.

"Hey, it's Iz isn't it?" Murphy addressed her, even though Wells and Bellamy were still talking. Bellamy's words "Whatever the hell we want." caught her attention. "How about we take your bracelet off next? What do you say? Tell me you're not siding with the mini chancellor here."

The crowd started to chant "whatever the hell we want", encouraged by Murphy. Before either Wells or Isabelle got to say anything, water fell from the sky and started to soak through their clothes. Yet, everyone looked up to the sky and smiled. Water. And the first rainfall they'd ever experienced. "We need to collect this." Wells announced, starting by looking at Bellamy, then turning to focus on Iz. Isabelle nodded, and turned to walk away as Bellamy smugly said "whatever the hell you want."

The joyous cheers of the others faded behind them, as Isabelle once again let Wells lean on her for support. The two of them set out whatever containers they could find to collect the rainwater. Then, the two of them found a dry spot under the trees. Isabelle's eyelids felt heavy, and as soon as she laid down, they fell closed. A few feet away, Wells also laid down. His sleep was short-lived however, as he was forced to leave the camp with Bellamy. They were careful not to wake Isabelle, knowing that she would be one of the only people to do something about it. Bellamy covered his mouth, holding a gun a few inches from Wells' face. Wells' eyes widened in fear. The thought that the guard outfit Bellamy was doning included a gun hadn't even crossed Wells' mind. After all, it was fairly apparent that Bellamy wasn't an actual member of the guard. but knowing that he had it forced Wells to follow him without any argument, away from the camp. On his way, he gently nudged Isabelle with his foot, hoping she would wake. But instead, she turned over without even opening her eyes.

"I don't want to shoot you, Wells. Hell, I like you. But I do need them," Bellamy paused, pointing the pistol to the sky, alluding to the fact that he meant the people left on the ark. "to think you're dead."

Wells' heart raced, his palms were sweaty. How could he not be nervous in a situation like this? When Wells responded, he didn't let the fact that he was terrified show. "Why? Why are you doing this? For real. Not some crap about getting to do what you want to do." He knew it was unlikely, but he was trying to stall, to find a way out of the situation. He didn't want his father to think he was gone. And what about Clarke's mom? She was the only person that Clarke had left.

"I have my reasons. I also have the gun so I ask the questions. And the question is… why aren't you helping me? Your dad banished you Wells, and yet here you are still doing his bidding. Following the rules, aren't you tired of always doing what's expected of you? Stand up to him. Take off that wristband and you will be amazed at how good it feels."

"No." Wells' response was definite, and stern. "Never. Not gonna happen, is that clear enough for you?" Wells asked, ignoring how uncomfortable he was with the way Bellamy brandished the pistol while making his speech. Bellamy took a deep breath through his nose, and nodded. Wells prepared for him to raise the gun, waited for the pain that was to come, regretted never telling Clarke the truth about her father.

"Yeah, it is. I'm sorry it had to be this way." Wells' eyes widened as Bellamy seemed to be preparing the gun, but instead tucked it into the waistband of his jeans. Something was right here. There was no way Bellamy was just going to give in. Bellamy looked to Wells' left, and Wells turned his head to look as well. There stood Murphy. On his other side, Mbege closed in. Wells turned, attempting to run up the steep hill that had previously been at his back. Two of the other boys ran over the crest of the hill, and forced Wells back down. Wells struggled, his shouts breaking the serene quiet of the night air. Wells knew they were too far from camp for the others to hear him. Wells wondered if they just wanted a more satisfying kill. Was that it? When they brought his arm up to rest on a rock, his wristband against the smooth surface he knew it wasn't. Bellamy walked away as Murphy pried Wells' bracelet off his arm. He yelled as it was removed, the needles being pulled from his arm. It stung. The bracelet emitted a brief electronic sound, before the lights at the end of the needles faded to nothing. Up on the Ark, his panel went black. As far as everyone on the Ark knew, Wells Jaha was dead. The four boys holding him down finally released him, and started back to camp. Now that it was over, Wells had no will to fight, he collapsed into the rock his arm had been held onto, his chest against the hard surface. His father would think he was dead. What Wells didn't know was that Bellamy was also the reason his father wouldn't know, not for a while longer anyway.

Isabelle woke, and made her way through the chaos that had started in the camp. Most of the delinquents ran around like animals. Isabelle eventually found Wells just as he finished burying the two boys that had died in the crash, and tilted her head. "Wells? What happened?" she asked. "Wells! Your father will think you're dead." Isabelle reminded him, referring to his bare wrist. She was assuming that he had decided to take it off, how else would it have happened? The way he ignored her, pulled on his jacket and collected the clothing of the deceased told her that there was more to it than she knew. She also guessed that he wasn't in the mood for company, so she left him to so whatever he pleased, and returned to the camp.

When someone bumped into her, she ignored it completely. All the others were being careless, sprinting around the camp and jumping on one another. But, immediately after the person grabbed her by the arms and dragged her backwards toward the fire. Isabelle looked over her shoulder. Murphy.

"Murphy, what the hell are you doing? Let go!" she shouted at him, but he kneeled down with her beside the fire, holding her by the shoulders so she couldn't fight against him, and brought her face close to the flame. Isabelle screamed, this time loud enough to grab attention. She knew Murphy was ruthless, but she hadn't expected this.

Little did she know, things were going even worse for Jasper.


	3. Calamity

Everything happened so quickly, Isabelle couldn't process it all. One minute, she was being held just inches above a fire. The next, Bellamy and Wells came running over. It was then that Iz started to panic, her breath hitched in her throat and the heat of the fire started to burn her face. "Bellamy!" Murphy called out, glancing up to see Bellamy's approach. "Check it out, we want the Ark to think that the ground is killing us right? Figured it would look better if we suffered a little bit first."

Wells acted immediately. He ran over, leaned over Iz, and shoved Murphy backwards off of her. "Let her go!" he practically growled, and Iz scrambled to her feet and backed toward the trees. "You can stop this." Wells added, addressing Bellamy.

Isabelle started to tune out the conversation when Bellamy quipped back "Stop this? I'm just gettin' started." Isabelle's attention was recaught by Murphy who retaliated by punching Wells in the jaw. Isabelle started to move back in to help him, but Mbege's arms snaked around her waist and held her back. Thankfully, Wells started to fight back on his own. The two exchanged hits, until Murphy seemed to be giving up. Wells turned his back to him, which Isabelle knew to be a bad idea. Never turn your back on your enemy. "Don't you see you can't control this?" Wells huffed at Bellamy, clearly close to his breaking point after the encounter. Isabelle watched Murphy pull a makeshift blade, and attempted to free herself from Mbege's grip once again.

When all else failed, she did the only thing she could. "Wells!" she screamed, which pulled his attention back toward Murphy, who was pulling himself back into an upright position with the blade in hand. Isabelle was shocked by the lack of fear in Wells' eyes.

"You're dead." Murphy threatened. Bellamy put a hand up to stop him, and Murphy obeyed as if he were well trained pet. Bellamy held up a second hand made weapon.

"Fair fight." Bellamy dropped the blade at Wells' feet, and an uneasy feeling filled Iz's stomach. She hadn't even realized how much she'd grown to care about Wells in the past twenty-four hours, until that moment. Wells' confidence faltered, but after a moment of looking around at the onlookers, including Iz whose eyes silently pleaded for him to just walk away, he snatched up the blade and stood tall.

Murphy lunged at Wells three times, the last time finally made contact with Wells' side. Isabelle gasped, and would've covered her hand in fear if Mbege would let her go. After that, Wells made his move, twisting the two of them so he was behind Murphy and holding his blade to Murphy's neck.

"Wells!" Isabelle and a second voice broke in at once, and Wells' eyes lifted to look between the two of them. Clarke moved through the trees, evidently shocked by the predicament she had come back to. Isabelle twisted in Mbege's grasp, her brown eyes watching beyond Clarke. Finn trudged in behind her, but Monty, Jasper and Octavia were nowhere to be found. "Let him go." Wells instantaneously gave in and forced Murphy to the ground. Bellamy stepped in to stop Murphy from charging Wells again. Finn noticed Isabelle and Mbege, and swiftly helped Iz get away. Isabelle quietly thanked him. Her head lifted when she heard Bellamy say his sister's name. Monty was there with her, coming down the hill into the clearing where they were all collected around the fire Isabelle had just been held over. Octavia had her arm around Monty's shoulder, and limped as the two of them approached. Bellamy lifted her onto the flat ground, and Isabelle pushed a hand through her hair as Octavia said she was okay. Jasper wasn't with them. Was he going to appear through the trees next. Isabelle stood on her toes to see as far as she could.

"Where's the food?" Bellamy questioned, and Finn announced that they hadn't made it to Mount Weather. "What the hell happened out there?" Bellamy continued.

"Where's Jasper?" Isabelle voiced her own question, looking to Monty. He hadn't joined them yet, and it was making her nervous. Monty's eyes were downcast, Isabelle knew him well enough to see that he was upset. "Monty?"

"We were attacked." Clarke exclaimed, and Isabelle started to put the pieces together. Was Jasper gone?

"By what?" Wells asked.

Finn responded first. "Not what, who." Finn looked between the group around where he sat. "Turns out, when the last man from the ground died on the Ark, he wasn't the last grounder." Finn shook his head when he said it. Fear seemed to take them all over at once, even Bellamy seemed worried, it was obvious in the way he put a protective hand on his sister's back.

"Everything we thought we knew about the ground is wrong, there are people here. Survivors. The good news is that means we can survive." Clarke started what Isabelle assumed was supposed to be an inspirational speech, but Isabelle wasn't willing to listen to it.

"Is Jasper dead? Did they kill him?" Isabelle's eyes started to water as she voiced her suspicions, she stepped from her spot beside the fallen tree Finn had perched himself on to where Monty stood.

Clarke hesitated, glancing over her shoulder at the brown haired girl before pushing on with what she was saying. She didn't want to scare the others, she wanted to instill positivity in them. "Radiation won't kill us." she finished.

"Yeah… the bad news is the grounders will." Finn interjected, and Isabelle felt her knees grew weak. Was that Finn's way of relieving her from the torturous way everyone else was making her wonder whether or not her best friend was a goner?

"Where _is_ the kid with the goggles?" Wells finally repeated Isabelle's question, referring the the goggles that Jasper always wore on his head.

"Jasper was hit." Clarke finally answered, and Monty wrapped his arms around Isabelle as she started to cry. "They took him." Some of the others cast sympathetic gazes at Monty and Isabelle, who stood together, with their arms twined around each other. "Where's your wristband?" Clarke finally noticed the absence of Wells' bracelet, and Wells pulled his arm away from her.

"Ask him." he scoffed, looking to Bellamy. The others didn't know that Bellamy and Murphy had been taking off everyone's wristbands. Isabelle vaguely heard Clarke ask how many, and Murphy smugly respond twenty-four and counting. The Ark now thought that a fourth of them were gone, when in reality they'd only lost two.

"You idiots! Life support on the Ark is failing." Isabelle finally pulled away from Monty, standing beside him to hear what Clarke was saying. "That's why they brought us down here. They need to know the ground is survivable again and we need their help against whoever is out there! If you take off your wristbands you're not just killing them, you're killing us."

Isabelle groaned quietly as Bellamy started his argument against Clarke again. "We're stronger than you think. Don't listen to her, she's one of the privileged, if they come down she'll have it good. How many of you can say the same? We can take care of ourselves! That wristband on your arm, it makes you a prisoner. We are not prisoners anymore! They say they'll forgive your crimes, I say you're not criminals! You're fighters. Survivors. The grounders should worry about us!" The others that stood atop of the hill, with their backs toward the drop ship, started cheering. Isabelle too might've been riveted by the speech, if one of her best friends wasn't missing and presumably dead. When Clarke and Monty walked away, Isabelle joined them.

"What do we do now?" Monty asked as the three of them left the crowd.

"We go find Jasper." Isabelle answered, and Clarke gave a curt nod to show her support of the plan. If there was any hope that Jasper had lived his attack, they needed to find him. Isabelle wasn't going to let him go without a fight.

 _ **One Year Prior.**_

 _Isabelle's heart felt like it was falling apart, one small piece at a time. Her mother had been on medication for months now, but her condition seemed to be worsening. Isabelle had begged the woman in medical, Doctor Griffin, for more medication but the Ark's rules dictated that there was a set amount which was proving to be inefficient. Isabelle now sat on the floor in a long stretch of hallway, her back to the wall and knees pulled up to her chest. She raised her eyes at the sound of footsteps, she had asked Monty and Jasper to come and sure enough there they were, less than three minutes after she'd sent the message._

 _They sat down on either side of her, and Isabelle slouched so she could lean her head on Jasper's shoulder. He put an arm around her as she explained the situation. They both knew her mother was on her way out, their families grew the medicinal herbs that her were keeping her mother on the brink of death, not quite healing but not dying either._

" _I wish there was something we could do, Iz." Monty mumbled quietly, and Jasper seemed to perk up slightly._

 _Isabelle sat up straight to look at him, noticing the glint in his eye that both instilled a bit of hope in her, and caused a small amount of worry. "There is. We work in at the farms, why couldn't we take some of the supplies? We can replace them before supply checks, we can help her." Jasper proposed excitedly. As it turned out Isabelle had a reason to worry._

" _Jas, don't you think we take enough for ourselves? They're going to notice if we take more." Isabelle reminded him of all the herbs they took for recreational enjoyment, but Jasper simply shrugged._

" _We'll stop taking them for us then. We'll only take what your mom needs."_

 _ **Present Day.**_

Isabelle ignored the way her eyes burned with tears as she recalled memories of Jasper, and all he had done for her. She was knelt on the lower level of the dropship, quietly putting together some things that she might need in their mission to go find Jasper. She was terrified, but he needed her. Monty sat down beside her, putting a purple flower into her hand. "I know you told me you were fine but… I could tell something was bothering you. I'm sure you need it now more than ever." Isabelle recognized the flower, being from Agro meant that she recognized most plants. She forced a smile and chewed it, it was supposed to relax her, but the news about Jasper left her broken. Monty left her alone after that, and worked quietly at the side of the room, until Wells and Clarke joined them. They seemed to be arguing over whether or not Wells should go with them, and Monty seemed to think he should.

Clarke paused, then looked to Monty. "I'm sorry, Monty, but you're not going either."

"Like hell I'm not. Jasper's my best friend." Monty responded, and Isabelle stood up. Clarke explained how important Monty was to the camp, how working in agriculture and engineering gave him an edge that no one else could replace. Isabelle agreed, his intelligence was more important than anyone else's.

"You figure out how to talk to the Ark, we'll bring Jasper back." Clarke finished, looking to Isabelle to show that she was included as part of her 'we'. Isabelle offered Monty a quick reassuring smile, then picked up her bag and stepped toward the door. "Hey, you ready?" Clarke asked both Isabelle and Finn, who had joined them in the dropship.

"I'm not going anywhere, and neither should any of you. That spear was thrown with pinpoint accuracy from three hundred feet." Finn cautioned, but Isabelle's only response was a glare in Finn's direction that told him she was obviously outraged.

"So what? We let Jasper die?" Monty butted in, his tone reflecting how hurt he was by Finn's comment.

Clarke looked at Monty. "That's not gonna happen." she promised, before turning back to Finn. Finn looked at Isabelle, and she ignored the look in his eyes that suggested he might be trying to get her forgiveness for not wanting to go. "Space walker? What a joke." Clarke was speaking quietly now, but everyone inside the ship could hear her disapproval clear as day. "You think you're such an adventurer, you're really just a coward."

Clarke leaned over to pick up her gear. "It's not an adventure, Clarke. It's a suicide mission." Finn looked from Clarke to Isabelle, as if he were pleading for them to stay.

Isabelle was already stepping past him, her shoulder bumping into Finn's as she went. "Come on, Clarke." she called over her shoulder. Clarke shook her head at Finn, then followed the other girl outside.

"Build a wall, use the fallen trees. I'll watch out for them." Isabelle heard Wells directing Finn, and then he too walked out of the ship.

"Jasper looked up to you." Monty addressed Finn, and hearing it made Isabelle's heartache. She didn't want to hear anymore, so she bounded down the ramp and walked with Clarke over to where Bellamy kneeled beside his sister, attempting to clean the wound she'd gotten while she was out with the others.

"...the others said it looked like a giant snake." Octavia spoke, apparently telling Bellamy what had happened.

"You could've been killed." Bellamy scolded, as he wrapped a cloth around her thigh.

Clarke approached the two of them first, a hand on the strap of her pack. "She would've been if Jasper didn't jump in to pull her out." she announced.

"Are you guys leaving? I'm coming to."Isabelle and Bellamy said no almost simultaneously.

"No way, not again." Bellamy continued, a hand on her shoulder as he stood up. Neither he or Isabelle were ready for Isabelle to hurt herself again.

"Your leg is just going to slow us down. I'm here for you." Clarke notified Bellamy, who she was looking at. Isabelle leaned down to give Octavia's hand a gentle squeeze, just like when they had been seated on the dropship together during it's crash. The freckled male turned toward Clarke. "I hear you have a gun." Bellamy lifted his shirt to show her the pistol tucked in the waistband of his pants. "Good, follow me."

"And why would I do that?" Bellamy asked.

Clarke stopped, and turned to face him once again. "Because you want them," she looked toward the others briefly. "to follow you and right now they're thinking only one of us is scared." Clarke mused. Bellamy reluctantly pulled on his jacket, and looked to Murphy.

"Murphy, come with me. Atom, my sister doesn't leave this camp, is that clear?" Bellamy addressed yet another one of his minions, who turned and came over at the sound of his name. Isabelle strided after Clarke and Wells, the rest of their conversation fading away as she did.

Isabelle walked in between the two duos, made up of Clarke and Wells and Murphy and Bellamy. She was in earshot of both, but ignored them all. It was all nonsense compared to what she cared about. All that mattered now was Jasper.

Eventually, Isabelle started to walk behind Clarke and Wells, just a few inches behind the taller male who she'd connected with the day before. She was grateful that he had saved her, she was sure Murphy would've have killed her, but she knew he would've made her suffer before finally breaking off her wristband. She wondered if the wristband was worth the danger it seemed to put her in, and hoped that Wells would be able to help Jasper too.

"Hey, hold up!" Bellamy called to the three of them. "What's the rush? You don't survive a spear through the heart."

Isabelle clenched her fist, prepared to swing when she felt Wells' hand wrap around her thin wrist. "Put the gun away, Bellamy." Wells demanded. In her blind rage, Isabelle hadn't even noticed that he was holding the weapon in his hand, rather than keeping it tucked away as he did before. Isabelle realized Wells said it because if she had hit him, it would end with the pistol pointed at her.

"Why don't you do something about it, huh?" Murphy jumped in, pushing Wells back a bit with a palm to Wells's chest. The movement pulled Wells' hand off of Isabelle's arm, but she moved between them without hesitation. She wasn't going to let the two of them go at it again. Too many times had it ended with Wells getting injured.

"Jasper screamed when they moved him. If the spear struck his heart he'd have died instantly. Doesn't mean we have time to waste."

Bellamy grabbed both Clarke and Isabelle's wrists at once, one in each hand. "Take these wristbands off, and we can go."

"The only way the Ark is going to think I'm dead, is if I'm dead. Got it?" Clarke snapped, stepping toward him rather than away like Isabelle had.

"Brave princess." Bellamy smiled at her, and Isabelle watched as Finn strutted up behind Bellamy.

"Why don't you find your own nickname? You call this a rescue party? You gotta split up, cover more ground. Clarke come with me." Finn kept walking, and Clarke fell into stride with him. Isabelle pulled her arm away from Bellamy, and while she was supposed to walk with Murphy she walked on her own, ten or so feet to the right of Bellamy, Wells, and Murphy, while Clarke and Finn walked on a ridge on their other side. There was no way Isabelle was going to walk with someone that almost put her face in a fire. She'd rather face the grounders at that point.

Isabelle focused on looking forward, her eyes constantly scanning the area in search of any signs of Jasper. Footprints, blood trails, even broken twigs. At some point, Wells joined Isabelle on her path after Bellamy had apparently made a comment he wasn't a huge fan of. Isabelle ignored the way her body ached with the miles they'd hiked. It was exhausting, but she couldn't fixate her attention on that.

"Guys! Get over here!" Clarke's voice rang through the forest suddenly, and Isabelle was the first to break into a sprint straight in her direction. She dodged trees as she went, and stopped at the bank of a river. She then splashed straight through it, stalling just to grab the bags Clarke and Finn left on the other side as she went. Isabelle's hopeful smile fell as Clarke handed her Jasper's goggles. The rock beside them was painted red with blood that she could only assume was his. With that much blood, was there any hope for him? The other three members of the group soon caught up, Wells coming first and Murphy and Bellamy ambled over later. The six of them the followed the rocky river bank, Finn used his experience from their Earth Skills class back on the Ark to follow the trail. Isabelle caught the signs that they'd been this way too, but not as easily as Finn seemed to.

A noise alerted them all, their heads raising toward it's source. "Now would be a good time to take out that gun." Clarke commented, and Finn started through the foliage with Isabelle right beside him. They came out into a rough clearing, which a large tree in the center. It branched off numerous times, reminding Isabelle of a character from a tale she once read. The tree looked almost like Medusa with her head of snakes, and when Isabelle saw Jasper tied to it she froze just like Medusa's victims had. Jasper's groans of pain filled her ears, and her eyes lingered on his bloodied torso. He was alive, but in agony. Clarke walked briskly toward him, with Bellamy just behind her. Isabelle snapped out of it, and finally moved along with the others, with Wells' hand on her back to guide her along. Clarke fell downward, into a trap that had been covered with the leaves that also coated the ground around them. Bellamy caught her by the arm, holding her above the sharpened sticks below. The others rushed to help pull her up, Isabelle, Wells, and Finn worrying that if they didn't he might just let her go. Finn helped her to her feet, and you all looked back up at Jasper.

Finn offered to cut him down, with the help of Murphy, insisting that Wells stay with Clarke and Iz and keep an eye on Bellamy. Isabelle stepped around the trap and toward the tree nonetheless, not fully trusting Murphy to keep Jasper from falling into the pit. Yet another noise pulled their focus, and from the woods emerged a black jaguar. It moved quickly toward them, and Isabelle wondered if that was what the trap was set up for. Jasper was bait for the jaguar.

"Bellamy, gun!" Clarke yelled, and Isabelle watched as he seemed to reach for it, but came up with nothing. Gunshots were fired, however, by Wells who had taken the gun from Bellamy at some point, most likely because he could see the threat him having it posed. Wells shot it once in the thigh, but lost it in the tall plants near where Bellamy stood. As quickly as it had come, the large cat had seemingly disappeared. They all looked around at each other, but Wells didn't lose his concentration. When the black jaguar pounced toward Bellamy, Wells pulled the trigger and sent it plummeting back to the ground just feet from where Bellamy stood.

A wave of emotions seemed to wash over Bellamy. Fear due to the fact that he had almost been killed, annoyance that Wells had stolen his gun, and finally gratefulness for the fact that Wells was ready to save them all. "Now she sees you." Bellamy stated, apparently referring to something they'd discussed earlier, the very same thing that made Wells choose to walk with Isabelle instead. Apparently, it was the fact that despite coming to earth just for Clarke, she didn't want anything to do with him. It was something that Iz too had noticed already. Isabelle looked back up at Finn and Murphy, who still balanced themselves in the tree.

Isabelle sighed, both in relief and impatience, put Jasper's goggles on the top of her head just like he always did, then hauled herself into the leafless tree. She positioned herself beside Finn, who edged away at her approach. He always seemed uneasy when she was near, but Isabelle didn't seem to care about it. He didn't interest her, what with the way he flirted with almost every girl he saw. She didn't recognize that his uneasiness didn't stem from the fact that she was an attractive female, but instead a past she couldn't even remember, however.

A few moments later, they had cut through the harsh rope that held Jasper up. Finn had switched to cutting his hands free while Murphy and Iz freed the rest of him. They finally got him onto the ground, and Wells and Finn worked together to carry Jasper back toward camp while Bellamy and Murphy carried the jaguar. It wasn't most people's idea of a good dinner, but it would suffice.

It was after dark when they returned, Monty jumped straight into action at the sight of them. "He's alive." Isabelle told him with a nod, and a smile. Her eyes filled with tears once again, but this time because she was overwhelmed with relief. Both Isabelle and Monty moved to get Clarke the supplies she needed to help him, and the others practically drooled over the jaguar. Isabelle decided it would be better to give Clarke space to help Jasper, despite the fact that she wanted nothing more than to be there for him. She sat outside with Monty, watching as the others lined up to take their wristbands off as payment for a piece of the jaguar. The fire lit up their features, and a moderately sized smile came to Isabelle's face when she heard him and Murphy speak.

"What you think you play by different rules?" Murphy asked him, as Finn reached for some of the sticks that the meat had been cooked on.

"I thought there were no rules." Finn responded, which made Murphy shut up for the first time that Isabelle had seen. Finn walked past, holding two of the kebabs in his hand. He stopped next to Isabelle, and gave her one for her and Monty to split, then sat down to share the last one with Clarke. Isabelle nodded toward the dropship, and she and Monty went inside to sit beside Jasper while they ate.

"Do you think he'll be okay?" Isabelle stressed over Jasper, he didn't look as rough now that Clarke had cleaned him up. But he was still unconscious.

Monty didn't answer. He didn't know how to, because he feared that it was more likely they would lose Jasper than not, and without Jasper he knew that the two of them were hopeless.


End file.
